A Shoulder to Cry On
by Elfin1993
Summary: 4x03 - but Damon goes to see Bonnie about the vampire hunter, not Stephan. One-Shot Bamon.


**A Shoulder To Cry On**

**What if Damon had gone to Bonnie for help with the vampire hunter in 4x03? Just a little Bamon one-shot. Enjoy!**

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Damon strolled up to the door, the bright sunlight warming is skin – a sensation he never took for granted. And soon he would be able to go back to the life he had enjoyed before _her_. Before this ridiculous mess with his brother and before this town, which seemed to draw disaster to it and leave destruction and misery in its wake. He would help save the day this one last time and then he was out; leave the kids to sort out their own messes, because he sure as hell didn't plan on spending the rest of forever babysitting his little brother and the girl he had lost. The girl who despite all her claims of compassion and love always managed to do exactly the wrong thing which ultimately hurt those she claimed to be protecting.

He knocked, putting on his best mildly disinterested face. He heard the sound of soft footsteps heading towards him from inside the house, slightly slower and drawn out than usual, not the confident steps he knew from his favourite little witch. Interesting.

Finally he heard the bolt turn and the door opened just enough for Bonnie to be just about visible.

"What do you want, Damon?" She asked, her voice hard and monotone.

"Well is that a way to greet an old friend, after all the things I've done for you and your little town." He replied, quickly falling into their usual back-and-forth.

"What do you want?" She repeated. There was no change to her tone, no shift in her expression. She wasn't playing today. For the first time since she had opened the door he really looked at her. She looked tired, dark shadows under her eyes, her face drawn and her entire posture rigid, as if physically struggling with the task of holding itself up. Very interesting.

"Aww, no banter today? Seems such a shame to waste such an opportunity to damage each other's egos." He smiled, his eyes flashing with mischief. He was waiting for it, the explosive pain in his head he knew would come if he continued to push. But for some reason he needed it, he needed what it represented – the powerful, self-assured Bonnie he knew. Because all the other kids were off dealing with their oh-so important personal problems, too busy to really notice the bigger ones heading there way.

"Damon, I'm not in the mood, so if you just came to while away you meaningless and pitiful day, then find someone else." She began to close the door, but he put up his hand to stop it before it had moved more than a centimetre.

"Okay, okay. Tyler got shot by a vampire hunter who seemed to know exactly what he was doing and I need your help." He conceded, his voice becoming serious.

For a minute they just watched each other, assessing the others mood and intentions. Finally, Bonnie sighed and stepped back from the door and walk towards the living room, with every confidence that Damon was following.

Once they had sat down, he handed her the intricately carved and engraved wooden bullets. Her forehead crinkled as she studied them. Sighing again she said, "They're not witch symbols, so I can't help."

Damon sighed, running his hand through his hair. Why was nothing simple in this stupid town?! Leaning forward, resting his arms on his knees he asked, "Brilliant. Well could you track him for me? Pinpoint his lair."

A flicker of fear streaked through Bonnie's eyes, just for a second, but Damon saw it. Confusion clouded his thoughts. He knew Bonnie would help, she always did, and at this point a tracking spell was almost second nature to her, so why was she so scared.

Before he had time to question her on it, she replied, "Sure, sounds simple enough." She the closed her eyes, holding the bullets in her hand and chanting softly to herself. Her voice shook slightly as she did so. Damon watched her intently, knowing something was very wrong. And sure enough, no sooner than a minute into her trance Bonnie crumpled to the ground, screaming and clutching her head. Panicked Damon followed.

"Bonnie!" He shouted, shaking her. "Bonnie, stop!" The screaming stopped, but she stayed curled up for a few minutes, shaking violently. Eventually she sat up, leaning back heavily on the sofa, the bullets falling from her limp hands.

"What the hell just happened?!" Damon asked, not unkindly. Much as they bickered and fought and rarely saw eye to eye, there was a connection between Bonnie and Damon that neither of them acknowledged, though both knew it was there. They were the ones who always lost out, who sacrificed everything for those they loved.

Bonnie stared into Damon's crystal blue eyes, assessing his word before finally letting the tears fall silently from her eyes. "I can't do magic Damon. I went too far, used dark magic to save Elena and everyone else, and the witches punished me for it." Her voice began to shake. She bit her lip and looked away, refusing to break down completely in front of him; refusing to let herself be helpless.

"What did they do?" Damon asked, his voice steely, barely hiding the intense protective rage that was burning in his heart. How could they do that to her? How could they think anything she did was for anything but the greater good, after she had lost everything dear to her to save this bloody town.

"They… they took Grams, destroyed her. And it's all my fault." Her voice broke on the last word and with it, so did her control. She hunched over, hugging herself and sobbing uncontrollably. And in that moment, Damon wanted nothing more than to gather her up in his arms and take her away from this town and these people who took for granted the sacrifice she made for them, one that cost her more dearly than they would ever understand. But he didn't, he just sat in silence and let her cry out the hurt and fear and guilt she had been holding onto so tightly. Some time passed, but eventually her crying slowed and stopped, and she unfolded herself, wiping her face.

She looked at Damon, her eyes suddenly wary. "What no mocking reply, no 'I always knew you were bad' or 'welcome to the dark side, isn't it fun?'?"

"No." He replied, entirely sincere. "Bonnie, you need to stop. This world, this town, these people are not yours to save all by yourself, and you don't need to destroy yourself to save them from their own messes."

"Oh look who's talking." She replied with a hint if levity. "Despite Elena repeatedly choosing Stephan over you, you stay, fighting there battles and keeping their happy Stelena-bubble safe."

He smiled his trademark smirk, his eyes sparkling not only with his usual cockiness, but also a hint of shared understanding. "Well someone has to be the adult around her, and clearly you are out of commission for a while." Bonnie tried to interrupt but he cut her off. "No, you need to sort yourself out, before we can have you back on the front line. You're no use to us without your mojo." He stood to leave, and Bonnie followed suit, showing him to the door.

"The others can't know." Bonnie said, as he crossed over the threshold back to the outside world.

Turning he smiled, but this one fell short of the mark, intermingled with too much sadness. "We both know that won't be a problem. We lose so that they don't have to think things are too bad."

She returned his smile with one of equal understanding and sorrow. "Goodbye, Damon."

"Later, witchy."

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**Thanks for reading, and as always please review :)**


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